Microbial interactions stabilize carbon in the soil

Microbial decomposition leaves a part of the carbon in the soil, where it can be bound for a very long time. Andreas Richter) - Soils play a major role when it comes to the long-term storage of CO2 and the resulting reduction of this gas in the atmosphere - therefore they can contribute to slowing down climate change. In order to gain a better understanding of these mechanisms, it can be helpful to look at the microscopic level of soil microorganisms. An international and interdisciplinary group of researchers has examined how microorganisms interact with each other to contribute to the decomposition and storage of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems. Carbon is the most important element for all life forms on earth; it is circulating between the atmosphere, oceans and land ecosystems in the so-called carbon cycle. While a single carbon atom (as CO2) remains in the air for an average of three years before being chemically bound and converted to biomass by plant photosynthesis, it takes 23 years on average for a carbon atom in the soil organic matter to be released into the atmosphere as CO2 through microbial decomposition of dead biomass. This microbial decomposition, however, leaves a part of the carbon in the soil, where it can be bound for a very long time - researchers estimate that they can stay in deep soil layers for hundreds, possibly thousands of years.